The Red Sox still need bullpen help.

I’m happy to make that declarative statement regardless of whether there’s another addition to the lineup. On any given night, your bullpen has to prevent runs and deescalate jams and there is still a hole on the bench beyond the right-field wall to fill in that regard.

Here’s the bullpen as it’s constructed right now:

Long/Middle Relief

• Kutter Crawford
• Brennan Bernardino
• Greg Weissert
• Justin Wilson

Set-Up/Late Innings

• Liam Hendriks
• Aroldis Chapman
• Justin Slaten

Hybrid

• Garrett Whitlock

If I’m making my 26-man roster right now, this is the bullpen. Your rotation of Crochet, Houck, Giolito, Buehler, and Bello can get things done. It sends Crawford to a long relief/swing man role which could be a great thing for him considering how much he tired in August and September of last season. Whit is a hybrid in the sense of he can pitch three innings or shove for one, and that’s why he gets his own special category. No rotation for him, please, for the love of all things Run Prevention Unit, don’t overtax him.

What this team is missing STILL is durability, health, and a recent track record of solid performance in clutch situations. Really, it’s the Chris Martin role. Liam Hendriks hasn’t pitched sinced 2023. Do I think he could have great stuff and take over the closer role? Absolutely, but it’s a roll of the dice. Aroldis Chapman—while a lefty for some variety—is losing velocity, struggles with control, and quickly becoming a meme pitcher who needs to either reconnect with his electric fastball or figure something else out. Whitlock has great stuff but he actually needs to stay healthy (I will keep saying this as a mantra to the baseball gods).

Unfortunately, Craig Breslow and co. have lost out on the top free agent relievers of the 2024-25 offseason. Your division rival Blue Jays did add in that regard with Jeff Hoffman and Yimi Garcia. The Mets nabbed Clay Holmes and AJ Minter. The Dodgers are now the Evil Empire, re-signing Blake Treinen while snagging both Kirby Yates and Tanner Scott. That last name is brutal considering reports of significant interest from the Sox.

That’s not to say there aren’t some very intriguing candidates holding out on the market. They may not be perfect but they certainly bring more to the table. Who to sign?

Carlos Estevez

Esteves is an intriguing candidate not just for late-game opportunities in and of themselves, but the closer role outright, having accumulated 57 saves the last two years—mostly on a rough Angels squad. He’s also got the command the bullpen needs with an 89th percentile walk rate. He’s mainly a four-seam fastball guy with a slider and a changeup as his put away pitches, and when your fastball is in the high 90s, it’s hard to touch. His off-speed pitches average in the 89-90 MPH range, which doesn’t give him a lot of velo differential to play off of; still, a batting average of .198 on his fastball compared to an xBA of .235, he made it work. A run value of 6 on his four-seamer shows it’s enough of an impact pitch. A combined 2.45 ERA last season and a 0.91 WHIP is incredible, the 16th-best amongst qualified relievers. Can Andrew Bailey work on more of his other pitches to make him an even more versatile guy? Does he need to? Is this really more of a case of will the Red Sox pay for him? Who knows. Regardless, he’s one heck of a candidate to make the bullpen formidable.

David Robertson

You wanna talk about durability? Tossing 68 games in your age-39 season is absolutely obscene. To do it with 99 strikeouts along with one of the highest K- rates in the league, a 3.00 ERA, and a 1.11 WHIP, takes things to another level — he’s probably the definition of adapting to stay in the game. The cutter is his primary pitch and he shoved it to a .163 batting average. That’s Mariano-level craziness. Ironically, he passed Mo on the all-time strikeouts list last season. His problem is that not much else landed in the catcher’s mitt. A knuckle curve with a BAA of .274 and a slider with a .294 BAA…yikes. Still, he clearly has the baseball IQ to survive in the big leagues. The nice thing for the front office is this clearly would be a short-term deal going into his age-40 season. You don’t have to spend capital for long to add a good leverage arm to the ‘pen.

Tommy Kahnle

This almost happened in 2022! According to Ken Rosenthal, the Chaim Bloom Red Sox came super close to signing Kahnle, but the righty ultimately signed a two-year contract in the Bronx. He’s spent most of his career in pinstripes and put up a 2.11 ERA last season, with a BAA under .200 the last three seasons in a row. His primary pitch is his changeup, and with a Run Value of 10, it’s clear to see why he tossed it 73.1% of the time last season. Much like Robertson however, that’s about it. He’s a one-pitch pony to the nth degree and, if it doesn’t work, he gives up hits. Seriously, he threw 61 consecutive changeups at one point last season. Would he change up the bullpen that much or is this just another regular arm?

Kyle Finnegan

If you want durability, Finnegan hasn’t pitched fewer than 65 games in the last four seasons. A career-high 38 saves on the Nationals of all teams is also great. First year as an All-Star? Amazing. Second half complete collapse to the point he was non-tendered in November? Yikes. I do think his high saves count from last season inflates his value, but it’s clear his splitter is a strong put away pitch, and, like Robertson, he wouldn’t command too much capital. Still, this feels like a gamble. Which 2024 Finnegan do you get?

If you get Estevez, your bullpen has a firearm that puts everyone in a perfect role further back and should scare the rest of the league. If you grab Robertson, you’re getting a horse and an innings eater, and that’s something the bullpen tremendously needs amongst the rotating cast of MLB 25 The Show Create A Players we’ve seen the last two seasons. Kahnle and Finnegan both bring a boatload of appearances too, so it wouldn’t be for nothing.

There are more names on the free agent roster as well—Kenley Jansen (albeit, the chances of a reunion feel slim to none), Joe Kelly, Daniel Bard, Ryan Pressley, Kendall Graveman, Will Smith. . . the list goes on and on. Still, Craig Breslow has his work cut out for him. We keep hearing the offseason isn’t over. The Alex Bregman/right-handed bat saga has taken center stage but this is a pain point on the roster that absolutely should be addressed.